Miss Mattie's Guide To Reading a Story
Miss Mattie explains the proper ways to read a Medium story or article.
My dear aunt, Miss Mattie, has observed lately that some readers are not familiar with the right way to read and acknowledge the literary endeavors of Medium authors. Miss Mattie wishes to set the record straight on the appropriate etiquette of reading another's work.
To properly read a Medium post, a reader should subtly leave evidence of one's visit. Whereas reading time counts for metering the written word, reading alone does not provide a calling card the way that highlighting, clapping, or commenting leaves evidence.
Clapping.
There has been much discussion regarding how many claps one should give. Miss Mattie says the volume of clapping is up to the reader.
Highlighting.
Highlighting is an excellent way to leave a calling card to say a reader has stopped by.
Miss Mattie does not have specific recommendations for highlighting. She has asked me to explain some highlighting nuances that readers and authors may not know.
- Highlighting by another reader appears on your screen if you follow the highlighting reader.
- Extensively highlighted stories have either been highlighted by many readers or have been Perlmuttered. Some writers disagree, but I believe it is a great honor to have been read and Perlmutterd by David Perlmutter.
- An author is notified by Medium when a reader highlights a story.
- If a reader highlights a unique passage, the writer receives a message like, "Harold Zeitung highlighted There were black wizards in the Harry Potter movies."
- If a reader highlights a popular passage, the writer receives a message like, "Harold Zeitung + 7 others highlighted There were black wizards in the Harry Potter movies."
- Although clicking on a previously highlighted passage is a quick and easy way to highlight, I prefer to find a clear word or phrase to highlight. I would rather be uniquely identified than as + 7832 others.
Responding (Commenting).
Miss Mattie says responding to a specific passage or the entire story is an excellent way to engage with the writer.
You may leave a simple message such as, "Thank you for posting." or "Your topics are always interesting. I've enjoyed following you. Thank you so much."
If something resonated with you, it is appropriate to politely extend the content or disagree. If you wish to offer other authors' or your own stories as an extension to the conversation, you may do so delicately by offering an unlinked title and the author's name. An example is "You might consider reading Harold Zeitung's story 8 Ways To Boost Your Writing Presence to build a following." It is never acceptable to put a hotlink into a discussion stream of another writer's story unless the original writer specifically asked for it. In other words, do not spam or attempt to hijack another author's story. It is rude and against Medium rules.
Reading.
Clapping, highlighting, and responding leaves a bread crumb trail of engagement for the author and other visitors to see and follow. The most important aspect of reading a member's story is the reading. Miss Mattie says to read at a comfortable rate for you. Highlight as you see fit. Many people find it helpful to identify key concepts and content by highlighting them.
Play Room No-Nos.
Miss Mattie wishes to remind us of certain unacceptable behaviors.
- Personally attacking Medium writers.
- Spamming or putting hotlinks to other stories in the discussion stream of stories not written by you.
Resources for fair play.
Questions for Miss Mattie
Miss Mattie recognizes Medium is a big playground, and the unspoken rules may be hard to learn. Please feel free to pose questions in the responses. She will do her best to answer promptly.
Copyright 2022 Harold Zeitung All rights reserved
Disclosure: This story has been edited by Grammarly.com
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